The road to Grinnell Glacier in the Many Glacier area of Glacier National Park is very remote and I’m a little nervous as I drive from East Glacier to the Grinnell Glacier trailhead. Yesterday I hiked the Highline Trail and probably didn’t eat and drink enough so I’m feeling under fueled. It’s 6am and the only thing I’ve eaten is a granola bar and water. I left Glacier Park Lodge at 4:30am and nothing is open to get a real meal before this hike.
I enter the park with my bought-yesterday reservation to enter Many Glacier after 6am. I’m not feeling great about today’s hike and I see a sign for Many Glacier Hotel. I turn left into the parking lot to procrastinate my hike and explore this historic hotel. I park and walk into the lodge. There just so happens to be a beautiful breakfast buffet and I know this is my chance to fuel up and go into the Grinnell Glacier hike with a great mindset.
I eat a full buffet breakfast: eggs, bacon, fruit, potatoes, coffee. I drink a second cup of coffee. To top it off, I have a view of Swiftcurrent Lake. I’m now in the right mindset. I’m not rushing. I’m not worrying. Well, maybe a little bit. I worry about getting a parking spot at the trailhead which fills up fast, like everything here in the summer at Glacier National Park.
Additional good fortune: the weather is working for me – it’s overcast, cloudy and threatening rain. Yesterday on Highline trail after 10am I was in full sun burning to a crisp, or so I thought.
After a full breakfast and contemplating my life mesmerized by the lake, I’m ready to hike to the glacier I hiked when I was 17. You see, I’ve been preparing for this hike for a while. I’ve been weightlifting, running and hiking. I’m 36 years older and know I need to be ready. I want to see that freaking glacier.
I’m hiking solo but I have my InReach Mini 2 active and am communicating my plans with my BFF Mark. I’m not carrying bear spray but I do have bear bells.
I land a good parking spot and head out on the 5 plus miles to Grinnell Glacier. There are bear warnings posted. I am hiking this trail solo only because it is a super popular trail and I don’t think I’ll be alone much.
I try to stay close to other hikers. I pass a group and look for the next group. I think I hike fast because I’m scared. And I’m trying to get through being scared faster. I keep looking for people and there’s tons of them; I’m rarely alone.
When I do have alone moments I sing songs. Out of nowhere comes a song I haven’t sung in a while. I’m deep breathing and these lines come out of my mouth “I’m just breathing, breathing in and out. Trying to get through this thing called life.”
The last time I sang this song, not outloud, was when I was swimming in the Gulf during Ironman Florida. It’s such a great song. I’m trying to find people and hike with them for a little bit but then when I can’t I sing this song as loud as I can to keep the bears away:
“I’m just breathing. Breathing in and out. Taking it all in and I’m living with some doubt. I’m just breathing and I’m trusting in your words, knowing you can hear me Lord. You always take my breath away, sometimes you take me by surprise.”
I talk to a lot of people and I get to the glacier overlook. The glacier is amazing. I don’t necessarily remember it but I’ve read so much about the glacier and how it has receded that I feel like I know it. I’m so happy to be here. It was a hard hike especially after yesterday’s hike. I rejoice in the beauty and not seeing a grizzly.
I take a few pictures then head back.
I am wearing my Knoxville Motus race shirt on this trail because it’s the best feeling shirt next to my skin, and it wicks sweat a bit. I like being comfortable. A group passes me as I head down and the last man looks at my shirt and then asks me, You from Knoxville? I say yes. He tells me he is from Winchester. I say, isn’t it great to be out west? He smiles and asks, You a Vols fan? I say, don’t you have to be?
I pass the family that offered to hike with them on the way up. They have a five-year-old daughter hiking the entire trail, which impressed me more than anything. I love seeing young kids hiking these trails; it will be a memory to last a lifetime, I’m sure of it. The father tells me there is a Bighorn Sheep ahead that I will see; I’ve never seen one.
This is a life affirming hike today because I am fortunate for so many things at this moment. I’m so thankful and I pray a lot during this hike. I think about how I do so many of these adventures scared. I moved to Tennessee scared. I hiked Mount Washington in winter, scared. I left a bad job scared. I just do things scared. I’m very thankful for my friends who talk me down from the ledge when I get overwhelmed from doing things scared.
As I hike back to my car, I’m so thankful to have a good day and that I get the chance to come back and visit this place I love.
36 years ago I had no idea what my future held; I still don’t. Montana was always my dream; I say this all the time. Meaning that I thought I would live in Montana and make a life here one day. Maybe it was just a dream about a place to visit and get to know over time. Who knows; there’s always time, there’s always time.
Regardless, today’s hike was one of the best days of my life.
Distance: 10.2 miles.
Time: 3 hrs, 51 mins
What I ate: GORP, Kind Protein Bar
What I drank: 1 L water
What I wore: Salomon hydration vest, rabbit Speed Leggy Shorts, Motus race top, Glacier National Park hat.
What I saw: Big Horn Sheep, mule deer, hoary marmot, columbia ground squirrel
